Officials: Stewart hurt by airline cuts and mergers

And that, Stewart Airport Commission members were told Tuesday, continues to be an obstacle to bringing more service to Stewart International Airport.

Ralph Tragale, assistant director of public affairs for aviation at Port Authority, and Eric Billowitz, airport manager for Avports — the company that handles much of the day-to-day activity at Stewart — told the commission they continue to talk up Stewart at various meetings with airlines.

But carriers continue to merge — the latest announced merger being American, which was the first to fly passengers out of Stewart in 1990, and U.S. Airways, which currently offers four flights a day to Philadelphia from Stewart.

Still, Billowitz was not without at least some hopeful news for Stewart.

For example, he said some startup airlines that are not flying yet have shown some interest in Stewart. One airline, which he did not name, is continuing to review the possibility of reviving service from Stewart to Chicago.

Stewart has not offered Chicago service since American Eagle, a regional affiliate of American Airlines, dropped that route and left the airport in 2007.

Commission Chairman James Wright, noting the Port Authority also operates three large airports in addition to Stewart, asked, "Isn't there any arm-twisting we can do (to bring more service here)?"

Tragale said the Port Authority convinced Delta to add a second daily flight to Atlanta several years ago, but both were dropped last September because they were not performing well.

Tragale said they promote Stewart every chance they get.

"We're trying to work with all the carriers to bring sustainable service here," Tragale said.